SBUnified
Santa Barbara Unified School District staff will present its first interim budget report at the Wednesday, December 13th Board Meeting.
A new reference guide of Fast Fiscal Facts is being released to aid parents and community members in understanding the District’s budget, its revenue sources and expenditures. Understanding school finances helps everyone understand how it impacts the use of resources to impact educational equity and quality of programs for all our students.
The First Interim Budget Report is presented each year as a check-in to show where the District stands after the first third of the 23-24 Fiscal Year. It includes updates to both spending and incoming funding projections. While the report is for the current 23-24 budget, school finances are projected in a multi-year format to ensure fiscal stability over time.
The report shows the District will spend $186,911,355 or 83% of total Unrestricted Expenditures on salaries and benefits in 23-24 for all staff.
$13,557,377 is budgeted on books and supplies, $27,656,003 on Services and Operating Costs, and $9,305,755 will be spent on Capital Outlay/Other Outgo like equipment and contributions to funds such as Child Development, and Special Ed and other underfunded programs.
The District is on track to end the year with a general fund balance of $ 44,153,352. Of that money, $ 23,838,727 is restricted for specific purposes like Special Education, Learning Recovery, ESSER. The Unrestricted reserve without a specific use required for spending is $20,314,625. That leaves the District with 13.93% saved in the reserves.
The Fast Fiscal Facts ends with a look at the multi-year projection of District finances. This graph includes the last three fiscal years along with the current school year and the next two years of projections. It is important to note that the future projections do not include any current considerations from labor negotiations for a contract that starts in the 24-25 school year as they have not been agreed upon. Those impacts will be added once a deal is agreed to and will impact the reserves over time.
“The Fiscal Fast Facts aims to help educational partners and our community better understand the breakdown of how District Spending and Revenue compares to what was budgeted. Our goal is to create a stable and sustainable educational environment for generations to come. We are grateful to everyone who continues to support our students and help us to uplift every child, every chance, every day,” said Superintendent Dr. Hilda Maldonado.
You can find the Fast Fiscal Facts and First Interim Budget Report here.
Oof, same day news, but not same source…
A Santa Barbara jury rendered a $25 million verdict in a civil suit against the Santa Barbara Unified School District on December 8, ruling after a three-week trial that the district was 80 percent at fault for the sexual abuse and grooming of a teenage student by former Dos Pueblos High School security guard and assistant football coach Justin Sell from 2008 to 2011.
https://www.independent.com/2023/12/11/santa-barbara-unified-school-district-found-at-fault-in-25m-lawsuit/
I didn’t realize insurance pays 100%. Wouldn’t the district’s rates go up, like when you have a car accident?
“The district also said that the verdict and legal expenses would be covered by the district’s insurance carrier and the payment would not impact its finances or affect the ongoing negotiations regarding teacher pay.”
The District is prioritizing paper-pushing Administrators and their giant salaries/forever benefits over teachers and students. That’s about it. Hilda, do you disagree?